Kathryn hits Fifty
by skadoo
Summary: Kathryn celebrates a milestone birthday in her own way, five years after returning back to the Alpha Quadrant.


**Title:** Kathryn hits Fifty

**Author:** skadoo

**Series:** Star Trek: Voyager

**Rating:** K+ for some mild language

**Disclaimer:** I don't own 'em folks, if I did it would have ended differently.

**Summary:** Kathryn celebrates a milestone birthday in her own way, five years after returning back to the Alpha Quadrant.

**Feedback:** Is always appreciated.

**Author's Note:** My first Voyager fanfic

* * *

There was a chime at the door. "Enter."

_Voyager_'s Mark One EMH walked into Captain Janeway's office holding a medical tricorder in one hand and a med kit in the other. Kathryn's face broke into a wide grin as she came around her desk and gave him a big hug.

"Joe! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

The EMH hugged her back. He closed the door to her office as he put down the med kit. "Admiral, I need to examine you."

Theatrically, she threw her arms out to her sides. "My life is an open book...and hello to you, too, Doctor. Yes, I've missed you. It's been too long." She smirked, put her hands on her hips, and gave him a mock glare. "Did my husband put you up to this?" She sipped from her cup and sat down on the sofa opposite her desk.

"What? Oh…I'm sorry. How have you been? He mentioned you've been a bit under the weather and I thought I should check up on you. I'm sure you've been avoiding Sickbay again?" He peered intently down at the medical tricorder as he stepped around her, scanning her from head to toe. The doctor started to hum bits from _La donna è mobile._

She patiently continued to sip from the mug as a feeling of déjà vu hit her. Hadn't she experienced this scene, complete with operatic accompaniment, several times when they were still in the Delta Quadrant? It felt like one of her annual physicals- including Chakotay's involvement. _Oh, he'll have to pay up tonight._

"I was sick a few months ago. I'm feeling better now, though. May be you should just…"

Joe interrupted. "So, let me guess. Fatigue, hmm?"

She stopped drinking, puzzled. "Well, yes."

He opened her mouth and looked in as he palpitated the glands at the side of her throat. The doctor nodded, motioning for her to continue. "For how long has the fatigue persisted?"

She paused to think. "A few months, I guess. Hell, after seven years in the Delta Quadrant it's something I've learned to live with."

"But this time, you've been trying to rest, catch up on your sleep?" He frowned and peered into her eyes. "You haven't been taking stimulants, have you"?

"You know my favorite stimulant is coffee. I…"

"…beat the Borg with it," they finished simultaneously.

"But I haven't been able to partake of the elixir of life lately," she joked. "Just the smell of it makes me ill." She made a face and frowned, "I've switched to tea, black."

"So that seems to be helping with the Nausea?"

She shot him a brief look over the rim of her mug. "Chakotay seemed to catch some kind of stomach bug a few months ago. He was right as rain pretty quickly. I didn't quite catch it but I've had a lingering bit of…" She gestured wildly with her hand. "Something. It seems to be taking me a little longer to get back to normal. Chakotay nagged so much I finally went down to see Dr. Wilkins a few weeks ago."

The EMH looked at her indignantly, "Dr. Wilkins? Dr. Wilkins was a promising Starfleet medical officer and diagnostician who has thus far been squandering his talents by…"

Kathryn interrupted, "He's an ass."

"That's exactly what I said, Admiral." She suppressed a snort as she drank deeply from her cup, glad that someone else shared her opinion of the illustrious Dr. Wilkins.

The doctor proceeded to check her reflexes and then flipped the medical tricorder closed with a flourish. "And what was his diagnosis?"

Her patience wearing thin, she stood up. She started pacing back and forth, gesticulating wildly and nearly spilling the contents of the mug all over the office. "Well, he reminded me that as an admiral I'm most likely burning the candle at both ends, that I needed to work on managing my stress, maybe even start an exercise program. That if I…managed my stress, then I could avoid occasions of repeated illness." She stopped and put one hand on her hip. "Sounds almost like an EMH I used to know." She rolled her eyes. "Then he glanced at my chart and said, 'Well, you have just turned 50, you know.'" She dropped herself onto the sofa in a huff and put down her mug. "So I guess you could say his diagnosis is decrepitude."

The doctor looked at her aghast as he carefully took a seat on the sofa next to her. "And you didn't hit him?"

She paused with one fist clenched in her lap. "I thought about it. But Chakotay would have made me apologize. And I'll be damned if I apologize to that damned arrogant little bastard."

"Did he actually use a medical tricorder? _Wish she'd come to see me instead of Dr. Wilkins._ Any first year medical student can tell what's wrong with you. Icheb might have performed a more accurate scan. When was your last period?"

She raised an eyebrow. "Almost a year ago." She chuckled lightly, "I know I'm not eight months pregnant."

"No. but you are nearly 14 weeks and …"

Kathryn gasped in happy surprise. "Are you sure? I mean…" She scrubbed her hands across her face, then dumped them into her lap. _Now that was a stupid question._ She sheepishly glanced down toward the floor and said, sotto voce, "Three lives lost in exchange for the three I left behind in the Delta Quadrant. After five years, three miscarriages, and a milestone birthday, I'd kind of given up hope. "

He reached out, gently tilted her face toward him and said emphatically, "That wasn't your decision, Kathryn, but mine and Chakotay's. Be angry at us, rile at us, not at yourself." Her eyes widened slightly and filled with unshed tears. "They didn't have enough human DNA to be able to regress them back. We tried. They couldn't live on Voyager; we couldn't have created a suitable environment without essentially creating a small prison for them. They had no other alternative for an equitable life. You had no choice, but we never let you make it. And I should explain to you and to Dr. Wilkins that fifty isn't old. It's only a bit unusual for a first time mom. It's not that much different than having a first child at forty, say two or three hundred years ago. This is the twenty-fourth century."

"I'm sorry." She sighed deeply and reached up to pinch the bridge of her nose.

"Unexpressed anger can lead to depression. We should have discussed this years ago."

She tried to keep her tone light, "So does this mean bed rest, no caffeine and general clean living for the duration?"

"Bed rest is unnecessary for now and could actually introduce other complications. Black tea has about fifty percent less caffeine than coffee but if I know you, you should still cut back. As for clean living, you must have already cut back because things are progressing well. You and your baby are completely healthy."

Kathryn absent-mindedly let her right hand rest on the swell of her belly. _I don't think I could stand to lose another baby. _

"How about I make house calls?" She was about to ask another question when the EMH shushed her. _"_I come by each week at first. He looked at her knowingly and she blushed. "Unnecessary, but I'm glad to make the extra effort if it will reduce your anxiety."

She had the grace enough to be embarrassed but knew better than to reject his offer. _We might actually bother him a lot less this way, first time neurotic parents._ "Er…OK. But how about I come by your office each week? I'll make an appointment with your secretary."

=/\=

Gretchen opened her front door. "Kathryn?"

Kathryn turned to look at her family and leaned lightly against her husband. Her voice rose almost an octave. "Mother!" She just about squealed, just like she used to as an excited little girl.

Chakotay was standing behind his wife with his arms wrapped around her a little possessively. He was nuzzling her ear trying not to laugh at the slightly absurd situation, his eyes twinkling, as he glanced toward Gretchen and Phoebe.

Her mother's eyes narrowed as she stepped closer to her daughter and looked into her dancing eyes. _Okay, unexpected company for lunch on a __weekday. I thought__ we were celebrating her birthday this weekend? And good news, if I recognize that look in her eyes._


End file.
